Monday Musings: Dan Wells' The Devil's Only Friend
I've previously written about my love for Dan Wells' John Cleaver books, specifically the third in the series, I Don't Want to Kill You. I finally picked up book 4 (after saying recently that I probably wouldn't get to it till later this year; my reading muse is a fickle beast) and let me tell you: Dan Wells (still) isn't pulling any punches.
After reading the novella/short story "Next of Kin" that (sort of) bridges the two John Cleaver trilogies, I wasn't expecting this book to pick up where it did. John has left Clayton to work with the FBI in tracking down the Withered -- the demons of the previous books -- but life isn't all that great. He doesn't actually get to kill the Withered, which means that his usual routine of getting to know a Withered's weakness and then put them down is disrupted, providing him with all of the build-up and none of the release. What's more, his teammates don't exactly see him as trustworthy, given his psychopathic tendencies. Add to that Brooke's deteriorating mental state (apparently having millennia of other people's memories in your head can really mess with you), and John is feeling pretty isolated.
When an operation to take out one of the two Withered in the city goes wrong, John and his team must regroup and try to work out what's going on. More Withered arrive in town, and John finds himself communicating with one Withered behind his team's back and feeling a strange kinship with another. (If you haven't read "Next of Kin," it covers about the first half of The Devil's Only Friend but from another character's perspective. I recommend reading the two close together, but I don't think the order matters particularly; they both spoil each other to an extent.)
The style of this fourth John Cleaver book is a bit different from the previous books. Whereas before the small town of Clayton and John's methodology provided a fairly intimate tone, The Devil's Only Friend feels more like a mainstream thriller with John as the star. It loses none of John's wit and personality, but the FBI team and larger conflict remove some of the intimacy of the earlier books.
Wells still forces John (and the reader) to grapple with some heavy moral questions in the course of the story. Is John the same as the professional hitman on the team? Is there a difference between killing someone to protect others in immediate danger and killing someone as a preemptive measure? How far can one go down the path John has chosen before there's no difference between him and the Withered he hunts? As usual, John has to arrive at his own answers. No one offers them to him on a silver platter.
While the horror of this book is lessened, the violence is still intense, especially at the climax as John is forced to confront not only a powerful Withered but a traitor within his own team. As I said, Wells doesn't pull punches.
If you enjoyed the previous books, you may find the shift in style a little off-putting. I think this is still a solid entry in the series and I'm looking forward to the next one (after I give myself a less-intense breather book).
After reading the novella/short story "Next of Kin" that (sort of) bridges the two John Cleaver trilogies, I wasn't expecting this book to pick up where it did. John has left Clayton to work with the FBI in tracking down the Withered -- the demons of the previous books -- but life isn't all that great. He doesn't actually get to kill the Withered, which means that his usual routine of getting to know a Withered's weakness and then put them down is disrupted, providing him with all of the build-up and none of the release. What's more, his teammates don't exactly see him as trustworthy, given his psychopathic tendencies. Add to that Brooke's deteriorating mental state (apparently having millennia of other people's memories in your head can really mess with you), and John is feeling pretty isolated.
When an operation to take out one of the two Withered in the city goes wrong, John and his team must regroup and try to work out what's going on. More Withered arrive in town, and John finds himself communicating with one Withered behind his team's back and feeling a strange kinship with another. (If you haven't read "Next of Kin," it covers about the first half of The Devil's Only Friend but from another character's perspective. I recommend reading the two close together, but I don't think the order matters particularly; they both spoil each other to an extent.)
The style of this fourth John Cleaver book is a bit different from the previous books. Whereas before the small town of Clayton and John's methodology provided a fairly intimate tone, The Devil's Only Friend feels more like a mainstream thriller with John as the star. It loses none of John's wit and personality, but the FBI team and larger conflict remove some of the intimacy of the earlier books.
Wells still forces John (and the reader) to grapple with some heavy moral questions in the course of the story. Is John the same as the professional hitman on the team? Is there a difference between killing someone to protect others in immediate danger and killing someone as a preemptive measure? How far can one go down the path John has chosen before there's no difference between him and the Withered he hunts? As usual, John has to arrive at his own answers. No one offers them to him on a silver platter.
While the horror of this book is lessened, the violence is still intense, especially at the climax as John is forced to confront not only a powerful Withered but a traitor within his own team. As I said, Wells doesn't pull punches.
If you enjoyed the previous books, you may find the shift in style a little off-putting. I think this is still a solid entry in the series and I'm looking forward to the next one (after I give myself a less-intense breather book).
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